Railway vehicle



Aug. 14, 1928. 1,680,417

. H. A. HOUSTQN RAILWAY VEHICLE Filed June 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet lWITNESSES INVENTOR Ef fira/n /g ua/z Aug. 14, 1928. 1,680,417

- v H. A. HOUSTON RAILWAY VEHICLE Filed June 4, 1927 2 Sheets-Shet 2WITNESSES: INVENTOR wax/AM Patented Aug. 14, 1928.

UNITED STATES HAROLD A. HOUSTON, OF WILKINSBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

RAILWAY VEHICLE.

Application filed June 4, 1927. Serial No. 196,429.

My invention relates to railway vehicles tion;

and more particularly to devices for connectlng and centering theadjacent ends of the trucks of such vehicles.

In railway vehicles in which the cabs or bodies are mounted on aplurality of articulated trucks, excessive nosing and lateral movementsof the adjacent ends of the trucks are likely to occur when the vehiclestravel over curved or uneven sections of track, if the trucks areloosely connected. On the other hand, if the trucks are connected toorigidly, undesirable stresses in the vehicle and excessive wear of thewheel flanges and rails will result. Therefore, it is desirable toconnect the adjacent ends of the trucks in;

such manner that they will be prevented from moving laterally relativeto one another, until subjected to a predetermined force.

One object of the invention is to provide .for yieldingly opposing therelative lateral movements of the adjacent ends of the trucks.

willbe indicated in the appended claims.

For a fullerunderstanding of the invention,'reference may be had to thefollowmg detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which;-

Figure 1 is a. view, in side elevation,'of fragmentary portions of apair of articulated trucks provided with a centering device embodyingthe principles of the inven- Fig. 2 is a detailed view, partly insection and partly in side elevation, of a portion of the trucks and thecentering device illustrated in Fig. 1; r

will, in part, appear Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of one form ofthe centering device; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top plan view of another form of the centeringdevice.

In the drawing, a pairof cooperating trucks 1 and 2 areillustrated ashaving the usual frames 3 and lthat are ournaled upon a plurality ofaxles 5 which are carried by wheels 6 in a well known manner. -Thetrucks land 2 may be coupled together by a draw bar 6 or by anyarticulated joint that is secured to the respective end sills 7 and 8 ofthe frames 3 and 4, the particular type of coupling being no part of thepresent in-- vention.

In order to restrain the adjacent endsof I the trucks from movinglaterally relative to one another, they areprovided with a,centeringdevice 9. The centering device comprises a triangular strut orresistance rocker 10 thatisdisposed betweenv a seating member 11 whichis mounted on the truck frame.

form that will provide suflicient resistance tokeep the truck endscenteredunder normal conditions. The rocker illustrated in Fig. 3 has aroundedbearing portion 14 on one end that is disposed in a seat 15 inthe seating member 11, and its other end is formed with a flattenedcam-shaped face 16 that is adapted to rock on the bearing face 17 of theyoke 12.

Another form of resistance rocker is il- 'lustrated in Fig. 4 as havinga base provided with two rounded corners 18 and 19 that are disposedincooperating seats 20 and 21 in the seating member 11. The other endofthe rocker is providedwitha camshape face 22 and is disposed in thebearing face 17 of the yoke 12.

In either form of rocker,-.the camshape end is held in position in theyoke by means of an arm23, one :end of which is pivotally connected tothe rocker and the other. end

.of which is pivotally connected to an extension 24 on the side of theyoke.

The required variable resistance to the lateral movementsof the adjacentends of the trucks is provided by holding the camthe trucks.

shaped rocker or triangular strut 10 bet-ween the seating member 11 andthe yoke mem ber 12 under such compression that, by reason of the shapeof the rocker, a predetermined force is required to unseat it.

As shown, the body of the yoke member isrectangular in shape and isslidably mounted in an opening in the housing. \Vitlra. view to makingthe yoke stronger and retaining it in proper position in the housing,its rear portion is provided with an extension 25 that is slidablyseated in an opening in an enlarged portion 26 of the base of the housinIn order to bias the yoke against the cam face of the rocker, a numberof sprin s 27 are mounted'in the housing, with their inner ends 28hearing against a, spring support 29 constituting a part of the housingandtheir outer ends 30 bearing against the inner wall 31 of the outerend of the yoke member.

' Thesupporting members of the centering deviceare generally mounted onthe trucks in suohposition that the rocker, the yoke, and the springswill be'under compression when the trucks are connected by the coilpling.

correct any tendency to nosing or relative lateral movements of theadjacent ends of However, when such a vehicle enters a curved. sectionot track, the leading truck will follow thev curvature of the rails andthereby give the adjacent ends of the trucks a tendency to swing out ofalmement.

' Under such conditions, the forces exerted by the relative lateralmovements of the adjacent ends of the trucks will be opposed by theresistance of thee-am or triangular rocker that.isdisposed.undercompression in the centering device. If the curvature ofthe vrails becomes very pronounced, the lateral forces exerted by theends of the trucks will be increased and will unseat the resistancejacent ends of the trucks will overcome the resistance of the rocker andcause it to be unseated. Accordingly, they may be designed to meet theconditions under which they will be operated. 7

While the illustrated example constitutes a particular embodiment of myinvention. I

do not limit myself strictly to the details shown, since, manifestly,the same may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

I 1. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality ofarticulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centeringdevice comprising a seat mounted on one ol? said trucks, a yoken'iountcd; on a cooperating truck, and a cam rocker disposed to beinterposed between the seat and the yoke.

In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulatedtrucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centering devicecomprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mounted on acooperating truck, a cam rocker disposed to be interposed between theseat and the yoke, and means for positioning the rockerin the yoke.

3. In a-railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulatedtrucks and means for connecting the trucks, ot a con tering devicecomprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mounted on acooperating truck, a cam rocker disposed to be interposed between theseat and the yoke, and a link adapted to connect the rocker and the yokeand center one end of the rocker in the yoke.

4. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulatedtrucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a contering devicecomprising a. seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housing mounted on acooperating truck. a yoke resiliently mounted in the housing. and a camrocker interposed between the seat and the yoke.

-5. In a railway vehicle. the combination with a plurality ofarticulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centeringdevice comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housingmounted on a. cooperating truck, a yoke movably mounted in the housing.a cam rocker inter posed between the seat and the yoke, and a springlocated in the housing and adapted to press the yoke against the rocker.

6. In a railway-vehicle. the combination with a plurality of articulatedtrucks and meansfor eonnecting'the trucks, of a centering devicecomprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mounted. on acooperating truck, and a heart-shape cam rocker interposed between theseat and the yoke. l I

7. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of.articulated trucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centeringdevice comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a yoke mountedon a cooperating truck. a triangular resistance rocker interposedbetween the scat and the yoke, and means cooperative with the yoke toretain said rocker seated until subjected to a predetermined force.

8. Ina railway vehicle the combination with a plurality of articulatedtrucks and means for connecting the trucks, of a centering devicecomprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housing mounted on acooperating truck, a yoke movably mounted in the housing,v and atriangular resistance rocker interposed between the seat and the yokeand means cooperative with the yoke to retain said rocker seated untilthe appli-' cation of a. predetermined force.

9. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a plurality of articulatedtrucks and means for connectin the trucks, of a .centering devicethereor comprising a seat mounted on one of said trucks, a housingmounted on a cooperating truck, a yoke movably mounted in the housing,resilient means for cushioning the yoke in the housing, a triangularresistance rocker interposed between the yoke and the seat, and a linkfor connecting the rocker and the yoke,

said link being disposed to support the rocker in Working relation tothe yoke.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 27th dayofMay,

HAROLD HOUSTON.

